She was born in Rahway, New Jersey, United States.

Both natives of Maplewood, New Jersey, she and her sister Kathleen Atkinson partnered to win two women's doubles titles.

[6] In both 1899 and 1901, Atkinson won the doubles title and reached the singles final at the tournament now known as the Cincinnati Masters.

She won the 1899 doubles title with Myrtle McAteer (falling to McAteer that year in the singles final) and the 1901 doubles title with Marion Jones Farquhar (falling in the singles final to Winona Closterman).

[1] She was posthumously inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1974.